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Oxfordshire Economic Assessment: Part Two - Update of evidence, November 2012

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Oxfordshire Economic Assessment

Part Two: Update of evidence, November 2012


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Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................... 4

2 Oxfordshire’s location ........................................................... 6

3 Business and Enterprise ....................................................... 8

3.1 The broad structure of Oxfordshire’s economy .............................................. 9

3.2 Employment sector changes, 2008 to 2010 .................................................12

3.3 Oxfordshire’s key business sectors and niche clusters ................................14

3.4 Tradable sectors (Export oriented sector) ........................................................19

3.5 Public sector .................................................................................................22

3.7 Business Turnover........................................................................................26

3.8 Productivity ...................................................................................................28

3.9 Entrepreneurial Activity .................................................................................35

3.10 Unemployment ..........................................................................................40

3.11 Job vacancies ...........................................................................................43

4 People ................................................................................. 45

4.1 Demographic Change ...................................................................................46

4.2 Economic Activity, Employment and Occupation .........................................49

4.3 Education and skills ......................................................................................54

4.4 Income ..........................................................................................................62

5 Infrastructure ....................................................................... 66

5.1 Broadband availability and speed .................................................................67

5.2 Transport ......................................................................................................68

5.3 Housing ........................................................................................................73

5.4 Employment land ..........................................................................................78

6 Environment and climate change ........................................ 83

6.1 Pressures on Oxfordshire’s environment ......................................................84

6.2 Changing climate and weather events ......................................................85

6.3 Use of resources ..........................................................................................88

6.4 Sustainability .............................................................................................90


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Figure 1 Percent of total number of employees (2010) ........................................11

Figure 2 Change by sector, 2008 to 2010 ............................................................12 Figure 3 Traded sectors: employment and businesses by subsector ..................20

Figure 4 Oxfordshire’s ranking on GVA per head, 2007 to 2009 ..........................29 Figure 5 GVA by industry sector in Oxfordshire ...................................................30 Figure 6 GDP per person across Europe .............................................................31 Figure 7 Survival of new enterprises – Oxfordshire vs South East and England .36 Figure 8 Business start ups in Oxfordshire by sector, (most frequent) 2008 to 2011 37 Figure 9 Proportion of working age residents claiming Jobseeker’s allowance ....40 Figure 10 Predicted change in ratio of older age (65+) to working age (16-64) population, Oxfordshire .............................................................................................46 Figure 11 Population change by ward in Oxfordshire, 2006 to 2016 ......................47

Figure 12 Percent of people in full or part time work (July 2010 to June 2011)......50 Figure 13 Employment by occupation, July 2010 to June 2011 .............................53

Figure 14 % of economically active aged 16-64 with degree or equivalent and above (Jan 10 – Dec 10) ...........................................................................................54 Figure 15 % of economically active aged 16-64 with no qualifications ...................55 Figure 16 Pupil attainment, 2010/11 ......................................................................56

Figure 17 Percent of 16 and 17 year olds in education and work based learning ..57 Figure 18 Full time weekly gross earnings (2011) ..................................................62

Figure 19 Difference between resident and workplace gross weekly earnings ......63 Figure 20 Traffic growth in Oxfordshire, 2000 to 2010 ...........................................69 Figure 21 Lower quartile house price to income ratio ............................................73

Figure 22 Lower quartile house price to lower quartile earnings ratio (2011) .........74 Figure 23 Strategic housing sites in Oxfordshire ....................................................77

Figure 24 Central England temperature .................................................................85 Figure 25 Rainfall ..................................................................................................86 Figure 26 Land area vs ecological footprint ...........................................................90


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1 Introduction

The Oxfordshire Economic Assessment1 is a review and analysis of data and evidence relating to the local economy. As such it supports the work of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to formulate and deliver their activities but it exists to also provide a resource for use by businesses, the public sector, the voluntary bodies and the public.

This report presents the latest data on Oxfordshire’s economy. Part One presents a summary of the main findings and related analysis. Part Two presents the detailed evidence base. This report updates the economic assessment first published in July 2010 which took an in-depth look at the Oxfordshire economy. Much of this remains relevant and a summary of the key features and challenges identified is set out in Part One. At present, with a return to recession, any recovery appears challenging, with risks in a number of areas including most obviously, the Eurozone. The Coalition Government is seeking to rebalance the economy and has been clear that growth must come from the private sector with an emphasis on trade and exports and growing medium sized enterprises rather than from the public sector and centrally provided fiscal stimulus. With this as the backdrop, this update attempts to consider:

What has been the impact of the 2008-09 recession and continuing financial crisis on Oxfordshire’s economy and businesses?

How is Oxfordshire positioned to emerge from recession when the recovery gets underway?

Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership

The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) covers the functional economic area of the county. It is one of the leading LEPs and has been steering the economic development of the county since its launch in March 2011. The LEP’s key focus is to create new private sector jobs. The Oxfordshire LEP is increasingly becoming a body which has the ability to allocate funding giving it real teeth to address barriers to growth.

Prioritised programmes of work include:

- Improving the county’s connections to fast broadband - Improving the skills and employability of those in, and about to enter

Oxfordshire’s workforce - Maximising Oxfordshire’s potential to increase inward investment - Enabling access to business support and business finance - Enabling infrastructure needed for growth.

1 The preparation of a local economic assessment is a duty of county councils (and unitary

authorities).


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The Oxfordshire LEP has prioritised three geographical areas for growth. Together they form the ‘Oxfordshire Growth Arc’ where with major economic growth housing development is planned over a twenty year period. The Oxfordshire LEP is working with other agencies to align and deliver this growth. Bicester A fast growing urban centre where significant quality employment is proposed (15-20,000 jobs) as part of major expansion of the town that could see the town’s population doubled to 60,000 by the 2030s. Much of the development is part of the ‘eco-town’ proposal to the north-west of the town. Oxford A world class centre of education, research and innovation with major employment development proposed in the West End of the city, its ‘eastern arc’ and at the ‘northern gateway’ of the city; altogether providing a potential of 10,000 new jobs. Science Vale An area of national science and innovation including major business parks/research centres at Harwell Oxford, Milton Park and Culham. An area of 92 hectares covering the two former sites is designated as an Enterprise Zone. Up to 12,000 jobs are planned as part of major development in the area including 13,000 homes.

The Oxfordshire LEP works with the Oxfordshire Skills Board and the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Partnership to deliver these programmes.

Data and analysis in this report focuses, in the main, on the county area covered by the Oxfordshire LEP. Future papers will need to examine each of the spatial priority areas and the rural economy of Oxfordshire.

The first results from the Census 2011 were published in July this year. It showed Oxfordshire had a population of 653,800 people. The roll out of more detailed data is planned through 2012 and 2013. A substantive review of the Oxfordshire economy assessment is planned when all the Census data becomes available.


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2 Oxfordshire’s location

Oxfordshire lies at the north-western edge of the South East region and, with its central location in England, has strong links to London and the Midlands, as well as west to the Cotswold and along the M4 corridor.

Oxfordshire is internationally and nationally accessible by air, road and rail:

6 of the 10 largest cities in the UK are reachable from Oxfordshire in under 3 hours by rail.

London and Birmingham are reachable in under an hour by rail.

There is easy access to London and Birmingham via the M40 motorway.

There are 8 international airports within a 3 hour commute (via public transport).

Oxfordshire is south east England’s most rural county and a quarter of the land area is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.


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3 Business and Enterprise

Key findings

Oxfordshire has above average employment in education, professional, scientific and technical activities, manufacturing and accommodation and food services. Within these broad groups Oxfordshire has particular strengths in key niche clusters including scientific research and development (bio-technology, space, cryogenics for example), publishing, and vehicle manufacture.

Of Oxfordshire’s 27,000 business units in 2010, 89% were micro firms (employing 9 or fewer people).

Data for 2008 shows that larger firms, albeit a small proportion of total firms, employ over half the workforce.

Businesses employed 3,000 fewer people in 2010 than in 2008.

It is estimated that about a third of Oxfordshire’s businesses form the ‘tradeable’ sector, these are export oriented firms.

In 2009 (the latest data available) Oxfordshire’s total Gross Value Added (GVA) was £14.2 billion. This represents about 8% of the GVA for the south east region. Oxfordshire’s contribution to GVA had increased between 2008 and 2009 but this was due to the growth in public sector.

Oxfordshire was ranked 16th in Great Britain for GVA per person at £22,163 per person.

Oxfordshire has a higher proportion of businesses with a turnover of £49,000 or less compared to the south east average. A higher proportion of businesses in the next income groups (£50K to £249K) would increase business turnover in the county significantly); in turn contributing to the GVA of the county.

Oxfordshire has a higher than average number of businesses for every 1,000 economically active residents.

New enterprises in Oxfordshire have a higher survival rate than average across the South East region and across England as a whole.

More recent data indicates that more businesses started up in 2011 than in the previous year.

Levels of self-employment appear to have decreased.

Oxfordshire had the lowest claimant count of any of the local enterprise partnership areas in April 2012, at 1.8% of the working age residents.

The proportion of claimants unemployed for 12 months or more has increased from 5% in April 2009 to 18% in April 2012.

In May 2012 there were 4,900 notified vacancies in Oxfordshire, of which 56% were based in the financial and business services industries.

There were 1.6 jobs claimants for each unfilled vacancy in May 2012; the lowest since the recession of 2008/09.


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3.1 The broad structure of Oxfordshire’s economy

Business by sector There were 27,000 business enterprises2 in Oxfordshire in 2011, equivalent to 8.2% of enterprises in the south east, registered for VAT/PAYE purposes.

Table 1 Proportion of enterprises by industry (March 2011)

England South East Oxfordshire

SORT column

Oxfordshire compared with

averages

Professional, scientific & technical 16.5% 18.6% 20.0% above average

Construction 12.5% 13.5% 11.9% below average

Information & communication 7.6% 9.7% 9.1% below SE average

Arts, entertainment, recreation and other services

7.1% 7.5% 8.4% above average

Business administration and support services

7.0% 7.6% 7.4% similar

Retail 8.9% 7.6% 7.0% below average

Agriculture, forestry & fishing 5.2% 3.3% 5.7% above average

Accommodation & food services 5.9% 5.1% 5.4% above SE average

Production 6.3% 5.5% 5.2% below average

Wholesale 5.1% 4.8% 4.2% below average

Health 4.0% 3.6% 3.5% below average

Property 3.7% 3.3% 3.2% below average

Motor trades 3.2% 3.1% 2.9% below average

Education 1.6% 1.8% 2.2% above average

Transport & storage (inc. postal) 3.1% 2.8% 2.1% below average

Finance & insurance 2.2% 1.9% 1.5% below average

Public administration and defence 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% similar Source: UK businesses Activity, Size, and Location. ONS Business Statistics Division

20% of Oxfordshire’s enterprises were in the ‘Professional, scientific & technical’ sector, accounting for the largest number of businesses but also well above the average for England and for the South East.

Other key business sectors above the regional average were the arts and entertainment sector, agriculture, accommodation and food services and education.

2 Enterprises registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) or pay as you earn (PAYE) purposes. The

threshold for VAT is £77,000.


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Jobs by Sector

There were 311,900 employees3 in Oxfordshire in 2010 (the latest available data). The top three industry groups were: education (16%), health (12%) and the professional, scientific and technical industries (10%).

Employees in Oxfordshire 2010

Industry England South

East Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire vs South East

% of total

% of total Count

% of total

Education 9.7 10.5 50,900 16.3 above average

Health 12.9 12.6 38,300 12.3 below average

Professional, scientific & technical 7.2 7.8 32,200 10.3 above average

Retail 10.3 10.4 29,700 9.5 below average

Manufacturing 8.8 7.2 24,600 7.9 above average

Accommodation & food services 6.6 6.7 21,600 6.9 above average

Business administration & support services 8.2 7.5 18,800 6.0 below average

Information & communication 3.9 5.3 15,200 4.9 below average

Arts, entertainment, recreation & other services 4.7 4.7 13,800 4.4 below average

Construction 4.3 4.8 12,900 4.2 below average

Wholesale 4.3 5.0 12,800 4.1 below average

Public administration & defence 5.6 4.4 12,700 4.1 below average

Transport & storage (inc postal)` 4.7 4.2 9,100 2.9 below average

Motor trades 1.7 2.0 6,100 2.0 similar

Financial & insurance 4.0 3.3 5,400 1.7 below average

Property 1.4 1.5 4,000 1.3 below average

Mining, quarrying & utilities 1.1 1.3 3,600 1.2 below average

Agriculture, forestry & fishing 0.7 0.8 200 0.1 below average

Column Total 100 100 311,900 100

Source: ONS Business Register and Employment Survey

Oxfordshire has an above average number of people employed in four industry groups when compared to the regional average. They are:

3 This figures includes both full-time and part-time jobs and excludes the self-employed, people on

government supported schemes and HM forces.


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5.0

7.9

8.0

8.7

9.5

9.6

9.8

9.9

10.2

10.5

10.5

10.9

11.5

12.6

16.3

10.5

9.7

Reading

West Sussex

Northamptons…

West Berkshire

Milton Keynes

Buckinghamshire

Surrey

Hampshire

Gloucestershire

Warwickshire

Wiltshire

East Sussex

Kent

Cambridgeshire

Oxfordshire

South East

England

Education

education; professional, scientific and technical activities; manufacturing and accommodation & food services

In comparison with statistical neighbours4, Oxfordshire has the highest proportion of employment in education, (reflecting the presence of the two universities in particular) and, a relatively high proportion in professional, scientific and technical activities (although lower than in Surrey and Cambridgeshire).

Figure 1 Percent of total number of employees (2010)

Source: ONS, Business Register and Employment Survey.

4 Oxfordshire’s statistical neighbours are defined by the Office for National Statistics. They are those

local authorities which are closest to Oxfordshire in their socioeconomic characteristics.

5.1

5.1

5.5

5.8

6.0

7.1

7.1

7.3

7.5

8.4

9.4

10.1

10.3

10.9

11.0

7.8

7.2

East Sussex

Gloucestershire

Northamptonshire

Kent

West Sussex

Hampshire

West Berkshire

Warwickshire

Wiltshire

Reading

Milton Keynes

Buckinghamshire

Oxfordshire

Cambridgeshire

Surrey

South East

England

Professional, scientific and technical


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The knowledge Intensive sector

Oxfordshire’s economic structure is typically characterised by the presence of what is known as ‘knowledge intensive sectors’.

As it suggests, knowledge intensive sectors are those services and industries where the production and use of knowledge is key. Such industries are more likely to employ graduates, create innovation and economic growth. In the Oxfordshire context, with the presence of two universities and a research hospital, and their intricate links with the local economy, it includes education and health. Taken together the KIS in Oxfordshire include: professional and business activities, scientific research and development, high-tech and medium high technology manufacturing5, information and communication technologies, education and health.

55% of Oxfordshire’s employees work in the in knowledge-intensive sectors, totaling 177,900 out of a total of 311,900 employees. Employment in these sectors continued to grow over the period 2008 to 2010, (from 165,500 in 2008, 52.5% of the workforce).

This is above the South East average (50%), with employment in education, publishing and scientific research & development significantly above the regional average.

3.2 Employment sector changes, 2008 to 2010

Businesses in Oxfordshire employed 3,000 fewer people in 2010 than in 2008.

The greatest overall decrease was in the business, administration and support service sector, whilst the greatest percentage decrease was in the agriculture sector.

Employment in the education sector increased by 3,000, or 14%, and in the professional, scientific & technical sector increased by 11.2%.

Figure 2 Change by sector, 2008 to 2010

5 The hi technology and medium hi-technology sector in Oxfordshire includes the manufacture of

components for spacecraft, computers, electronic components, pharmaceutical products, vehicles, and medical instruments.


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Source: ONS Business Registration and Employment Survey, Dec 2011

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000

agriculture, forestry & fishing (a)

mining, quarrying & utilities (b,d and e)

property (l)

financial & insurance (k)

motor trades (part g)

transport & storage (inc postal) (h)

public administration & defence (o)

wholesale (part g)

construction (f)

arts, entertainment, recreation & other services…

information & communication (j)

business administration & support services (n)

accommodation & food services (i)

manufacturing (c)

retail (part g)

professional, scientific & technical (m)

health (q)

education (p)

2010

2008


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The employment changes in Oxfordshire during 2008 to 2010 do not always mirror those happening nationally and regionally.

The number of people employed in the education sector in Oxfordshire increased by 13.8%, compared with just 3.0% across the South East and 1.0% nationally.

Employment in the professional, scientific & technical and the financial & insurance sectors has increased by 11.2% and 8.8% respectively, compared with a decrease in both sectors nationally.

In contrast, employment in the public administration and agriculture, forestry & fishing sectors in Oxfordshire has fallen at a rate significantly above that seen across the region or nationally.

3.3 Oxfordshire’s key business sectors and niche clusters There is not always hard data available (from national datasets, for example) to study all sectors of the economy - this is more so when niche clusters are examined. Some of these niche clusters may appear to employ few people compared to other industries but are high value in terms of the revenue they generate, the new technologies they enable or the supply chain processes they set in train. The following section is based on local knowledge and information, web based research and to a lesser extent, anecdotal information.

Scientific research and development

This sector includes biotechnology and the natural sciences and engineering but does not include manufacture.

Employees in research and development

2008 2010 Change

Nos Change %

Cambridgeshire 8795 10851 2056 23

Hertfordshire 6226 6487 261 4

Oxfordshire 5974 6057 83 1

Camden 6128 5426 -702 -11

Bracknell Forest 4389 4516 127 3

Kent 4495 4506 11 0

Hampshire 4662 4382 -280 -6 Source: BRES

Oxfordshire has the third highest concentration of research and development workers in the country with just over 6,000 people employed in this field alone. According to the national survey, there was little growth in


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this sector between 2008 and 2010 compared to Cambridgeshire which grew by 23%.

Compared with areas across Europe, the Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire area has the thirteenth highest proportion of people employed in research sectors of the economy, and the third highest of areas in the UK (below only Inner London and North Eastern Scotland).

Table 2 Employment in research sectors, European comparators

NUTS Region name Value Rank*

UKM5 North Eastern Scotland 4.58 1

UKI1 Inner London 3.4 2

NO06 Trøndelag 3.12 3

NO01 Oslo og Akershus 3.08 4

AT13 Wien 3.07 5

CZ01 Praha 3.06 6

SK01 Bratislavský kraj 2.76 7

FI1A Pohjois-Suomi 2.72 8

BE1 Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest 2.71 9

PT17 Lisboa 2.57 10

IS00 Ísland 2.35 11

FI18 Etelä-Suomi 2.35 12

UKJ1 Berkshire, Bucks and Oxfordshire 2.28 13

UKH1 East Anglia 2.17 14

*ranking is out of 265 NUTS2 areas with data. Source Eurostat data, March 2011 data.

In 2010, the gross domestic spend on research and development was £26.4bn, an increase from £25.9bn in 2009. The south east region contribution to this was £5.6bn, the highest regional spend in the UK. Business enterprise carried out mostly R&D (61%). The second largest were the higher education sector.

Oxfordshire is home to a number of large research facilities such as the Diamond Light Source, the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and the Harwell Harwell Oxford Science and Innovation Campus that are a significant part of the national research infrastructure.


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Hospitals and medical research

There were nearly 24,000 jobs in this sector in 2010. The Oxford University Hospital NHS Trust (OUH) is one of the largest acute teaching and research trusts in the UK. The Trust consists of four hospitals: the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury, working in collaboration with the University of Oxford.

Biocluster The Oxford Biomedical Research Centre is one of the largest in Europe with 2,500 staff and 800 postgraduate students involved in medical research. Over £1.2 billon has been invested in biomedical academic research in Oxford over the past 5 years. The biocluster in Oxfordshire consists of biotechnology and medical technology firms. The Oxfordshire Biotech Network’s Biocluster Report 2011 shows there were 163 bioscience firms in 2011, an increase of 14% since 2008. Between 2008 and 2010 there was an increase of 28 new bioscience businesses; 24 were start up and spin ots and 4 were relocation. The Report shows that growth in this sector appears unaffected by the current financial crisis and that start-ups and spin outs outnumbered relocations in the last three years compared to previous years (2005 to 2007). The OBN expects to see a growth of 1,500 jobs in this sector in the next 3 years. It benefits from its relationship to Oxford University which is ranked the number 1 university in the country and 4th in life sciences.

Cryogenics

Cryogenics is the study, creation and manipulation of materials at super cold temperatures. Nationally, the British Cryogenics Council estimate there are 20,000 people employed in this field generating an income stream of about £2billion per annum. Oxfordshire is the epicentre of this growing industry. It is an enabling industry so while many people are employed in pure research and development many more benefit from the technologies developed from it. One example is the super conducting magnets used in MRI scanners and developed in Oxfordshire. Superconducting magnets must be cooled to cryogenics temperatures during operation. 30% of MRI scanners installed in hospitals worldwide have such a magnet hat are manufactured in Oxfordshire.

http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/hospitals/default.aspx

http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/hospitals/jr/default.aspx

http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/hospitals/churchill/default.aspx

http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/hospitals/noc/default.aspx

http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/hospitals/horton/default.aspx


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Advanced engineering – automotive and motorsport

Oxfordshire has three Formula 1 teams based in the county – Williams F1, Lotus F1 and Caterham F1. Motorsport activity is supported by about 4,000 high performance engineering companies located in the area.

BMW produce the Mini in Oxford. About 3,700 people are employed in car manufacturing in the county. This does not include suppliers. In 2011, BMW invested a further £500 million investment in the car plant bringing total investment in the past ten years to £1.5 billion.

Space

The UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency and the International Space Innovation Centre are all based at the Harwell Oxford Science and Innovation Campus. The new Satelite Applications Catapult will also be based at Harwell.

In Oxfordshire there are two broad streams of work. The research and the manufacture of components for space craft and satelitlites in space are both important as is the commercialization of research into non-space products.

Publishing

Oxfordshire is a leading publishing centre, after London, with about 7,800 jobs in this sector.

Oxford University Press is the world’s largest university press. Other local companies include Elservier, Macmillan Education, Person Education, Taylor and Francis and Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.

Information technology, communications and electronics

There were approximately 13,000 jobs in this combined sector covering services and manufacturing in 2010 making it an important location, particularly in computing and electronics.


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Land based industries

Agriculture and Forestry

The Business Register and Employment Survey shows fewer than 200 employees in the agriculture and forestry sector in Oxfordshire in 2010, down from just over 300 in 2009. The more detailed agricultural census (which includes all types of workers including casual) puts the employment in Agriculture in Oxfordshire at 4,100 (2010). Between 1990 and 2009 this agricultural labour force in Oxfordshire declined by 18%, similar to the regional and national trends.

Agriculture may not employ many but it occupies the largest proportion of land in the county and so has a significant economic, environmental and social impact. The supply chain is also significant and farmers are actively taking a lead in renewable energy generation.

Tourism

The latest report by Tourism South East on the impact of tourism in Oxfordshire in 2009 found that:

tourism activity generated £1.7bn income for Oxfordshire’s businesses, a growth of 2.2% on the previous year.

There were 2.5m overnight ‘staying’ trips into Oxfordshire, an increase of 3.5% compared with the previous years. This increase was driven entirely by domestic overnight trips which increased by 5.1% compared to 2008; trips by overseas residents declined by 1.5%.

Staying visitors spent £565m (+6.3%)

There were 22.7m tourist day trips (+5.3%)

Day visitors spent £843m (+7.5%)

Expenditure by friends and relatives on visitors and visitors spend on second homes generated a further £60m.

The great majority of the total expenditure by visitors (£1.3bn out of £1.4bn) directly benefitted local businesses and a further £312m was generated through indirect and induced spending.

Tourism in Oxfordshire in 2009 supported 29,000 jobs (21,000 full time equivalent).

The latest Annual business inquiry data from the ONS gives a slightly higher number of tourism jobs, 26,000.


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3.4 Tradable sectors (Export oriented sector)

The tradable sector consists of those industries that export their goods and services long distances or abroad, generating income for a county’s economy. This sector is examined given the importance Government policy places on private sector job growth and exports.

In 2010 there were around 10,000 business units in tradable sectors in Oxfordshire, employing almost 107,000 people. At 31.5% of all businesses in the county, this is above average for England although slightly below the average across the South East.

The Financial & Professional Services is the largest traded sector in Oxfordshire, making up 13.4% of all businesses in the county, above the average for the South East and England. Despite this, employment in this sector is below the regional and national average.

Businesses in the ICT & digital media and the defence sectors are also well represented in Oxfordshire.

Employment in professional services, publishing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, environment and defence in Oxfordshire is above average compared with England and the South East.

Table 3 Traded sectors in Oxfordshire by number of businesses and number of employees

Number of businesses

% Total LQ[SE] LQ[ENG]

Advanced Engineering & Marine 906 2.8 0.90 0.92

Financial & Professional Services 4,291 13.4 1.04 1.13

ICT & Digital Media 2,882 9.0 0.95 1.19

Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare 1,274 4.0 0.98 0.95

Energy & Environment 643 2.0 0.98 0.97

Aerospace & Defence 57 0.2 0.79 1.01

TOTAL 10,052 31.5

Number employed

% Total LQ[SE] LQ[ENG]

Advanced Engineering & Marine 12,655 3.8 1.12 1.20

Financial & Professional Services 24,701 7.5 0.98 0.88

ICT & Digital Media 20,932 6.3 0.93 1.30

Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare 37,331 11.3 1.08 1.13

Energy & Environment 8,051 2.4 0.99 1.14


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0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

Aerospace

Marine

Finance

Digital Media

Energy

Healthcare

Professional Services

Environment

Advanced engineering

Computing

Pharmaceuticals

Defence

Publishing

Employment

LQ[ENG]

LQ[SE]

Aerospace & Defence 3,209 1.0 0.68 0.81

TOTAL 106,900 32.3

Source: Business Register and Employment Survey

Figure 3 Traded sectors: employment and businesses by subsector

Source: ONS Business Register and Employment Survey

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0

Finance

Aerospace

Marine

Healthcare

Advanced engineering

Environment

Energy

Digital Media

Computing

Professional Services

Pharmaceuticals

Defence

Publishing

Businesses

LQ[ENG]

LQ[SE]


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Recent research by BBC/Experian6 showed four of Oxfordshire’s five districts within the top 25% of districts with export oriented firms with two, Cherwell and Vale of White Horse with a high proportion of export businesses (placed 50th and 13th respectively). This suggests Oxfordshire is well placed to boost its’ global trading opportunities.

6 BBC Local Growth Research, February 2012, Experian


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3.5 Public sector

In 2010, 30% of all employees in Oxfordshire worked in the public sector, well above the regional (24%) and national (24.7%) averages.

The public sector in Oxfordshire forms a significant part of the Oxfordshire economy and is diverse covering education, health, social care, defence and public administration.

Education (pre-school, primary, secondary and adult) accounted for 50% of all public sector employees in Oxfordshire in 2010. Almost 50% of all jobs in the education sector in the county were in higher education – 24,100 employees in 2010, up from 9,400 in 2001 (an increase of 157%).

Data is not yet available from this data source, which allows a detailed look at individual sectors, to assess the impact of expenditure cuts on employment in the public sector in Oxfordshire in recent years. Data from the Annual Population Survey however suggests a modest contraction in public services 2010/11 after a steady increase in the last few years of the last decade. The private sector saw its first increase in 2010/11 after steady contraction 2007 onwards.

14,100

50,900

23,900

14,500

Public sector employees

Public services anddefence

Education

Health

Residential & social care


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Whilst the public sector has grown significantly in recent years, the private sector contracted year on year 2007 to 2010 but saw its first increase in 2010/11.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Public/private employment in Oxfordshire

Public

Private


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3.6 Business Demography

Of the 27,000 business units in Oxfordshire (registered for VAT/PAYE):

89% are micro firms, employing 9 or fewer people.

Enterprises 2011

Micro Small Medium Large

0-9 10-49 50-99 100-249 250+ Total

Oxfordshire 24,060 2,355 255 180 120 26,970

% 89 9 1 1 0 100

South East 294,005 27,775 3,115 1,790 1,330 328,015

% 90 8 1 1 0 100

England 1,582,815 161,745 18,490 10,270 7,515 1,780,835

% 89 9 1 1 0 100

Source: UK Business: Activity, Size, Location 2011. Table B1.2

The size distribution of firms from micro firms to large firms is similar to the structure nationally and regionally.

Change in number of firms registered for VAT 2008 and 2011

Oxfordshire South East England

2011 27,000 328,000 1,780,800

2008 27,500 338,800 1,851,200 % change

2008 to 2011 -1.9 -3.2 -3.8

Across the country there has been a decline in the number of firms registered for VAT/PAYE between 2008 to 2011 but the drop was less marked in Oxfordshire.

The Annual Business Inquiry (now superceded) was last undertaken in 2008. It can nevertheless be examined to provide an indication of size of firms by numbers employed.

Number of busniess units and employees by size of firm


25

Data units % of total Employees % of total

1-10 employees 27,500 86 72,100 23

11-49 employees 3,500 11 77,100 24

50-199 employees 800 2 71,000 22

200 or more employees 200 1 99,000 31

Total 32,000 100 319,200 100 Source: Annual Business Inquiry. Figurees rounded to nearest 100.

This dataset shows us that while the majority of firms are small, proportionately larger businesses employ far more people. In 2008, 86% of firms employed 10 or fewer people and employed about 23% of employees. This contrasts to the 3% of medium to large sized firms that employed 53% of the workforce, about 170,000 people.

Change in Employees by size of firm

Size of firm 2001 2008 Change

Actual %

1-10 employees 65,661 72,144 6,483 10

11-49 employees 70,503 77,149 6,646 9

50-199 employees

68,770 71,048 2,278 3

200 or more employees

95,959 98,984 3,025 3

Column Total 300,893 319,324 18,431 6 Source: Annual Business Inquiry

Between 2001 and 2008, of the 18,400 new jobs created, two-thirds were created by micro and small sized firms but nearly a third were created by medium and large sized firms.


26

3.7 Business Turnover In 2011, there were 26,980 enterprises registered for VAT/PAYE purposes compared to 27,175 the previous year. Information on businesses registered for VAT shows Oxfordshire has a higher proportion of lower turnover enterprises (less than £49k pa) when compared to the national and regional average and a lower proportion of small to medium turnover enterprises (£50k to £249k).

21% of Oxfordshire’s enterprises had a turnover of up to £49k compared with 19% in the South East and England (at March 2011).

The amalgamated size band £50k to £249k represents 50% of Oxfordshire’s enterprises compared with 53% in the South East and 52% in England.

Table 4 Proportion of enterprises by turnover (March 2011) £000s per annum

0 - 49 50 - 99 100 - 249

250 - 499

500 – 999

1,000 - 4,999

5,000 + TOTAL

England 33,4850 411,565 509,220 217,945 137,375 129,605 40,310 1,780,870

19% 23% 29% 12% 8% 7% 2%

South East 62,315 77,940 94,630 39,060 24,285 22,840 6,985 328,055

19% 24% 29% 12% 7% 7% 2%

Oxfordshire 5,630 6,035 7,525 3,330 2,060 1,810 590 26,980

21% 22% 28% 12% 8% 7% 2%

Source: UK Business: Activity Size and Location, 2011, ONS Business Statistics Division

Should the Oxfordshire profile become more like that of the South East (i.e. with a greater proportion of small and medium turnover enterprises) a very rough estimate suggests this could increase the total turnover of enterprises in the county by +£101m.

£000s 0 - 49 50 - 99 100 - 249 250 - 499 500 - 999 1,000 + TOTAL

Count of Oxfordshire enterprises by turnover band

5,630 6,035 7,525 3,330 2,060 2,400 26,980

Count of Oxfordshire enterprises based on South East % by turnover

5,125 6,410 7,783 3,212 1,997 2,453 26,980

Difference (Oxon based on SE minus Oxon)

-505 375 258 -118 -63 53 0

Estimate of additional value (using top end of scale) £m -25 37 64 -59 -63 264 219

Source: calculated from UK Business: Activity Size and Location, 2011, ONS Business Statistics Division.


27

Proportion of firms by turnover size, Oxfordshire Turnover Size (£ 000)

0 - 49 50 - 99 100 - 249 250 - 499 500 - 999 1,000 -

4,999 5,000 + TOTAL

2004 4405 5205 5460 2570 1605 1470 500 21210

% of total 21 25 26 12 8 7 2 100

2011 5635 6030 7530 3325 2050 1815 585 26970

% of total 21 22 28 12 8 7 2 100

Source: UK Business: Activity, Size, Location 2010 Table B1.3

The proportion of Oxfordshire firms within the £100 to £249k income bracket has increased but this was offset by the decrease in firms in the £50 to £99k bracket.


28

3.8 Productivity

Gross Value Added Gross Value Added (GVA) is used to measure the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in an area. As a measure of output it tells us about the economic performance of an area (It is linked to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with GDP being equal to GVA plus taxes minus subsidies on products). In 2009 (the latest data available) Oxfordshire’s total Gross Value Added (GVA) was £14.2 billion. Headline GVA at current basic prices

£ million £ per head

Oxfordshire 14, 190 22,163

South East 179,317 21,257

England 1,061,973 20,498

Source:

This is 7.9% of the total South East GVA, which in turn makes up 16.9% of the GVA of England.

Between 2008 and 2009 Oxfordshire’s GVA decreased from 14.4bn to 14.2bn, down by -1.5%, compared with -1.6% across England as a whole, and -2.0% across the South East.

Oxfordshire’s share of the national economy increased during 2008 to 2009, the first increase since 1999/2000.


29

Figure 4 Oxfordshire’s ranking on GVA per head, 2007 to 2009

2007

2008

2009

£ rank £ rank £ rank

Inner London - West 102 924 1



Edinburgh, City of 34 168 2



Berkshire 32 328 3

Inner London - East 32 588 3



Berkshire 32 331 4

Berkshire 30 508 4

Belfast 30 615 5

Belfast 30 873 5

Glasgow City 29 767 5

Milton Keynes 29 134 6


Belfast 29 563 6




Swindon 27 842 8

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire 28 424 8



Swindon 28 189 9

Swindon 27 521 9

Surrey 25 921 10

Surrey 26 421 10

Nottingham 25 480 10

Bristol City of 25 454 11


Surrey 25 394 11

Peterborough 25 378 12




Hertfordshire 24 149 13



Halton and Warrington 23 691 14


Leeds 23 118 15

Leeds 23 664 15

Buckinghamshire CC 22 573 15

Outer London - West and North West 22 923 16


Oxfordshire 22 510 16

Derby 22 804 17

Luton 23 265 17

Derby 22 464 17

Cambridgeshire CC 22 793 18



Luton 22 642 19

Derby 23 011 19

Leeds 22 400 19






Luton 22 002 21

Solihull 22 528 22


Greater Manchester South 21 850 22





Solihull 21 933 24

Solihull 21 205 24

York 21 751 25

Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan 21 822 25

Hampshire CC 20 944 25

Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan 21 621 26

Bournemouth and Poole 21 521 26

Bournemouth and Poole 20 842 26

Source: National Statistics, released Dec 2011. Extract from table 3.6 GVA per head at current basic prices


30

On GVA per head, Oxfordshire was ranked 16th out of 133 local authorities in 2009, up from 23rd in 2007.

It should be noted however that GVA is a workplace-based indicator so that salaries of commuters are allocated to the area where they work, not where they live. That explains why some of the areas at the top of the table above have a GVA so much higher than Oxfordshire. They are areas with high levels of commuters. Oxfordshire in contrast is a relatively self- contained county.

Figure 5 GVA by industry sector in Oxfordshire

Source: National Statistics released Dec 2011. Table 3.4 headline GVA by NUTS3 area

Oxfordshire’s growth has been fuelled by an increase in the contribution of the public sector.

The industry sector “public administration, education, health and other services” - equivalent to the public sector – became Oxfordshire’s largest contributor to GVA in 2008.

0

500

1 000

1 500

2 000

2 500

3 000

3 500

4 000

4 500

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Public administration,eductation, health andother servicesDistribution, transport,and communication

Business services andfinance

Production

Construction

Agriculture, forestry andfishing


31

Table 5 2008 to 2009 GVA by sector in Oxfordshire

£ million Public Sector

Distribution, transport, and

communication

Business services

and finance Production Construction

Agriculture, forestry

and fishing

2008 3 957 3 492 3 843 2022 1009 73

2009 4 140 3 420 3 636 2014 914 67

Change 2008 to 2009 183 - 72 - 207 - 8 - 95 - 6

4.6% -2.1% -5.4% -0.4% -9.4% -8.2%

Source: National Statistics Online GVA released Dec10 Table 3.4 Headline Gross Value Added by NUTS3 area and 6 industries.

Between 2008 and 2009 GVA from the public sector increased by 4.6%. GVA from all other broad industry sectors fell during the same period. Data for 2010 and 2011 are likely to show a very different trend as the funding cuts in local government take effect.

International Comparison

Internationally, the Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire area7 compares favourably on the measure of Gross Domestic Product8 per person (in Purchasing Power Standard 9), ranking 15th out of 301 NUTS3 areas across Europe (excluding European areas for which data is unavailable).

Only two areas in the UK are ranked above the Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire area on this measure, Inner London and North East Scotland.

Figure 6 GDP per person across Europe

7 At international level, the smallest areas at which data is available to draw comparison is NUTS2

level – at this level, Oxfordshire is grouped with Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

8 The purchasing power standard (PPS) is the name given by Eurostat to the artificial currency unit in

which the PPPs and real final expenditures for the EU 25 are expressed – namely, euros based on the EU 25. This measure has been used in place of GVA which is unavailable at this geography. 6 Gross domestic product is an aggregate measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values

added of all resident institutional units engaged in production (plus any taxes, and minus any subsidies, on products not included in the value of their outputs). The sum of the final uses of goods and services (all uses except intermediate consumption) measured in purchasers' prices, less the value of imports of goods and services, or the sum of primary incomes distributed by resident producer units.


32

Source: Eurostat, March 2011 data

Table 6 European areas ranked by GDP per inhabitant

[country names to be added in]

NUTS2 Region name GDP per inhabitant in PPS

Rank

Inner London, (England) 342.5 1

Luxembourg (Grand-Duché) 279.5 2

Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest

216.1 3

Groningen (Netherlands) 198.1 4

Hamburg (Germany) 188.2 5

Praha (Czech Republic??) 172.4 6

Île de France (France) 167.7 7

Stockholm (Denmark) 167.2 8

<= 50

50-75

75-100

100-125

>125

No data


33

Bratislavský kraj 166.8 9

Wien 163.2 10

Oberbayern 161.7 11

Bremen 157.8 12

Utrecht 156.8 13

North Eastern Scotland 156.7 14

Darmstadt 155.9 15

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (England)

153.7 16

Noord-Holland 152.3 17

Hovedstaden 151.8 18

Southern and Eastern 147.6 19

Åland 145.0 20

Salzburg 141.8 21

Stuttgart 138.7 22

País Vasco 137.6 23

Zuid-Holland 137.4 24

Provincia Autonoma Bolzano/Bozen 136.8 25

Source: Eurostat, March 2011 data

Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI)

Some economists use the GDHI index to measure economic well-being as it tells us about the income people have left for spending or saving once tax and other payments are accounted for.

Gross Disposable Household Income, 2010

Rank Area £ per head

1 Inner London 23,846 2 Surrey 21,501 3 Buckinghamshire CC 20,853 4 Hertfordshire 19,441 5 Berkshire 18,010 6 Outer London 17,892 7 Oxfordshire 17,880 8 Hampshire CC 17,777


34

9 Cheshire East 17,187 10 West Sussex 17,119 11 Solihull 17,022 12 Wiltshire CC 16,904 13 Cheshire West and Chester 16,863 14 Brighton and Hove 16,863 15 Cambridgeshire CC 16,854 16 North Yorkshire CC 16,834 17 Essex CC 16,818 18 Dorset CC 16,817 19 Warwickshire 16,628 20 Gloucestershire 16,622 Source: ONS Sub-regional GDHI, Spring 2012 release,

Table 3.2

On this measure, Oxfordshire is ranked 7th in the country in terms of GDHI per head of population.


35

3.9 Entrepreneurial Activity

Business births, deaths and survival

Source: ONS Business Demography 201010

Between 2004 and 2010, 20,800 ‘business births’ were registered in Oxfordshire compared to 18,000 ‘business deaths’; a net increase of 2,800 businesses over that time; equating to an annual average increase of 400 new businesses.

The rate of business failures in Oxfordshire exceeded business starts in 2010 with 3,085 deaths compared to 2,595 births; a differential of 20%. However, for both England and the South East, business deaths exceeded births in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, the differential between births and deaths was much greater than in Oxfordshire at 26% and 23% respectfully.

There were 29,000 ‘active’ enterprises in 2010, an average of 70 enterprises for every 1,000 economically active residents. This compares well to some of Oxfordshire’s comparator11 areas but the Buckinghamshire area has the highest ratio of 93 enterprises per 1,000 economically active residents.

Economically active residents

Active Enterprises

Enterprises for every 1,000 population

10

Based on VAT/PAYE registrations and de-registrations. The Current VAT threshold is £77,000.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Oxon Births

Oxon Deaths


36

Buckinghamshire 309,100 28,700 93

Oxfordshire 413,000 29,000 70

Berkshire 571,800 39,565 69

Cambridgeshire 392,900 25,595 65

South East 5,367,400 369,900 69

England 33,561,200 2,001,900 60

Source: ONS Business Demography and Annual Survey of Population

New enterprises in Oxfordshire have a higher survival rate than average across the South East region and across England as a whole.

55% of new enterprises have survived for 5 years, compared with 47% in the South East and 44% in England.

Figure 7 Survival of new enterprises – Oxfordshire vs South East and

England

Source: ONS Business Demography

Data on new business bank accounts opened gives an alternative source of information on new start-ups in Oxfordshire. Banksearch data shows over 5,700 new businesses started up in Oxfordshire during 2011, 2% more than in the previous year.

96.7

83.9

72.3

63.6

55.1

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years

per

cen

tage

England

South East

Oxfordshire


37

Almost one quarter of these new businesses (1,274 businesses, 22%) were in the administrative and support services, more than in the next two most frequent sectors combined (‘personal & community service activities’ and ‘retail trade and repair’).

More than 430 businesses in the professional, scientific and technical-based sector started up in 2011, up from 391 in the previous year and continuing the steady increase in this sector since 2008.

Figure 8 Business start ups in Oxfordshire by sector, (most frequent) 2008 to 2011

Source: BankSearch Consultancy, 2012

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Others

Electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning…

Electrical, medical, optical products &…

Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, rubber &…

Other loans & advances

Civil Engineering

Public administration & defence

Transportation & storage

Real estate & related activities

Machinery & transport equipment

Food, beverages & tobacco

Textiles, wearing apparel & leather

Other construction activities

Pulp, paper & printing

Other non-metallic mineral products &…

Other manufacturing

Information & communication

Wholesale trade

Wholesale, retail trade, repair of motor…

Education

Transport, storage & communication

Agriculture, hunting & forestry

Buying, selling & renting of own or leased…

Human health & social work

Accommodation & food service

Construction

Recreational, cultural & sporting activities

Professional, scientific & technical activities

Retail trade and repair

Personal & community service activities

Administrative & support services


38

Self employment

In September 2011, just over 8% of people in Oxfordshire (just under 40,000) were self-employed, down from nearly 11% the previous year (53,000 people). The data shows a steady drop in the numbers self-employed in recent years compared to a leveling at the regional level and nationally.

% of the workforce self-employed

Oxfordshire South East England

Sept 2008 12 10.4 9.2

Sept 2009 10.4 10.2 9.1

Sept 2010 10.6 10.3 9.3

Sept 2011 8.4 10.4 9.3

Source: Annual Population Survey 2012

Patents

Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire ranks 247th out of 1120 European regions for number of patents applied to the European Patent Office for, per million inhabitants. This is the highest-ranked region in the UK.

NUTS Region name Number of applications to EPO

per inhabitant

Rank

UKJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 212.77 247

UKH1 East Anglia 181.75 296

UKJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 161.21 327

UKJ2 Surrey, East and West Sussex 150.76 344

UKK1 Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area 147.13 354

UKH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 145.78 357

UKM5 North Eastern Scotland 119.47 417

UKD2 Cheshire 116.11 429

*ranking is out of 1120 NUTS2 areas with data. Source Eurostat data, March 2011 data.


39

Competitiveness

The UK Competiveness Index ranks local authorities and cities in terms of how they score across a number of indicators, including knowledge based businesses, skills, business registrations, employment rate, and others. According to the 2010 UK Competitiveness Index (UKCI), the South East region is the UK’s most competitive regional economy (above London). The region scored ahead of London for the first time since the Index was first produced in 2000.

Oxford was ranked one of the top ten cities in the UK, moving to 7th place from 9th place in the previous survey.

The Vale of White Horse (ranked 33rd out of 380 local authorities) is the most

competitive district in Oxfordshire and is within the top 10% nationally. Its rank reflects the large number of knowledge-based businesses and new business registrations in the district, along with high levels of skills, employment and pay12. South Bucks, West Berkshire and South Cambridgeshire and Reading rank above Vale.

South Oxfordshire also ranks highly (47th), boosted by knowledge-based businesses and new business registrations. The proportion of knowledge-based businesses in South Oxfordshire (29%) and Vale of White Horse (28%) is above the South East average (21%)

Cherwell (62nd) and West Oxfordshire (73rd) are in the top quartile nationally.

12

Further details are presented in section 5.


40

3.10 Unemployment

The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s allowance in Oxfordshire has remained between 1.6 and 1.8% since May 2010, and has been consistently below regional and national averages.

Figure 9 Proportion of working age residents claiming Jobseeker’s allowance

Source: DWP: rate is calculated as a proportion of the 2010 population estimate of those aged 16-64

April 2012 Claimants

Local Enterprise Area Claimant

Rate Claimant

Count

Enterprise M3 1.7 17,721

Oxfordshire 1.8 7,613

Buckinghamshire Thames Valley

2.0 6,361

Dorset 2.3 9,689

Thames Valley Berkshire 2.4 13,936

Hertfordshire 2.6 18,281

Swindon and Wiltshire 2.6 11,018

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

Jan

-06

May

-06

Sep

-06

Jan

-07

May

-07

Sep

-07

Jan

-08

May

-08

Sep

-08

Jan

-09

May

-09

Sep

-09

Jan

-10

May

-10

Sep

-10

Jan

-11

May

-11

Sep

-11

Jan

-12

Oxforsdhire

England

South East


41

Oxfordshire has the secondest lowest unemployment rates of all the Local Enterprise Areas.

Since September 2011 the rate of claimants in Oxfordshire has remained at around 1.8%. However there are significant variations across the county:

Some parts of Oxfordshire, including areas of Banbury and Oxford, have much higher rates than elsewhere in the county.

Claimant rates in Oxfordshire vary significantly with age and gender.

The rate of male unemployment has fallen significantly since the height of the recession (from 3.4% in April 2009 to 2.5% in March 2012), whilst female unemployment increased from a low base of 0.5% in 2008 to around 1.3% during and since the recession.

The rate of young people aged 19 or younger unemployed (7.5%) is currently less than the regional (8.5%) and national average (8.5%). The rate of unemployment among young people in Oxfordshire is less than it was prior to the recession so that by May 2012, 545 people aged 19 years or less were unemployed. For age groups 20-34 years and 35-49 years, the number of unemployed remains double what it was prior to pre-recession levels. The rate of unemployed people aged 35 to 49 years (33% in May 2012) is higher than the regional (31%) and national averages (31%). The largest group unemployed is aged between 20 to 35, at 41% (about 3,000 people).

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

May2006

May2007

May2008

May2009

May2010

May2011

May2012

Oxfordshire Claimants by Age

<19

20-34

35-49

50+


42

Age Bands Unemployed

May 2012 Economically

Active

% unemployed of

economically active

population

<19 545 15,100 3.6

20-34 3005 94,500 3.2

35-49 2410 136,600 1.8

50+ 1325 100,200 1.3

Total 7285 346,400

In numerical terms claimants in the older age cohorts remain high and above pre-recession levels but there is nevertheless a higher proportion of young people unemployed as a percentage of the economically active population for that age group.

The proportion of claimants unemployed for 12 months or more has increased from 5% in April 2009 to 18% in April 2012.


43

3.11 Job vacancies

In May 2012 there were 4,900 notified vacancies in Oxfordshire, of which 56% were based in the financial and business services industries.

Notificed Vacancies

Industry May

2012 % of total May 2012

Agriculture and fishing 12 0.2

Energy and water 44 0.9

Manufacturing 60 1.2

Construction 70 1.4

Distribution, hotels and restaurants 578 11.7

Transport and communications 97 2.0

Banking, finance and insurance, etc 2,746 55.7

Public administration,education & health 920 18.7

Other services 404 8.2

Total 4,931 100.0

There were 1.6 jobs claimants for each unfilled vacancy in May 2012; the lowest since the recession of 2008/09.

Oxfordshire

Date

Claimants

Unfilled Vacancies

Number of claimants

per unfilled vacancy

May 2006 4,484 3,702 1.2

May 2007 4,063 3,970 1.0

May 2008 3,813 3,147 1.2

May 2009 9,637 2,023 4.8

May 2010 7,780 3,140 2.5

May 2011 7,619 2,653 2.9

May 2012 7,295 4,539 1.6

Note: Due to chnages in recent years to Jobcentre Plus procedures for taking and handling vacancies figures are not fully comparable over time and may not indicate developments in the labour market.

In the managerial, professional and technical occupations there was a generally a good numeric fit between claimants and jobs available.


44

Claimants exceeding jobs available in their preferred field of occupation were in the administrative, secretarial, sales and customer service occupations.

Oxfordshire Claimants and Vacancies by Occupation, May 2012

Occupation Claimants

sought occupation Vacancies

Notified

Claimants per

vacancy

Occupation unknown 200 n/a

Managers and Senior Officials 395 210 1.9

Professional Occupations 280 205 1.4

Associate Professional and Technical Occupations

430 450 1.0

Administrative and Secretarial Occupations 830 210 4.0

Skilled Trades Occupations 680 480 1.4

Personal Service Occupations 380 1045 0.4

Sales and Customer Service occupations 1,610 510 3.2

Process, Plant and Machine Operatives 575 875 0.7

Elementary Occupations 1,910 950 2.0

Total 7,290 4,935 1.5

data rounded to nearest 5.


45

4 People

Key Findings:

The first release from the Census 2011 shows Oxfordshire has a population of 653,800.

Oxfordshire’s population is ageing.

81% of Oxfordshire’s resident workforce (aged 16 to 64 years) were economically active in 2011.The number of economically active in Oxfordshire improved in 2011 against a sharp drop during the 2008/09 recession.

Gains in employment through 2011 were predominately in part-time working for both men and women.

53% of Oxfordshire’s working population is employed in managerial and professional occupations with a further 8% in skilled trades.

The proportion of the workforce employed in professional occupations in Oxfordshire is well above the regional and national average, at 29% of the workforce compared to 21% and 20%, respectfully.

The proportion of the economically active population aged 16-64 with a degree or higher in Oxfordshire is above national and regional averages

Almost 10% of economically active males in Oxfordshire have no qualifications.

Oxfordshire’s school pupil attainment was below the average in the South East and across England on the percentage achieving 5 or more A*-C grades including English and Maths in 2010/11 – despite an increase in this percentage since the previous year.

At the end of 2011, 6.1% of young people in Oxfordshire were not in education, employment or training, equivalent to around 1,100 young people aged 16 to 18 years.


The Oxfordshire Skills Needs Analysis identified four sectors most likely to present skills gaps among local people: business administration and technology; engineering & manufacturing; retail and care

Residents in Oxfordshire earn an average of £554.6 per week.

According to the 2010 Index of Multiple Deprivation there are 18 local areas in Oxfordshire which rank amongst the 20% most deprived nationally.


46

4.1 Demographic Change

Oxfordshire has an overall estimated population of 653,800 people. The first results from the Census 2011 were released in July, 2012. It also showed:

Oxfordshire‟s population had increased by 48,500 people (8%) since the last Census estimate in 2001 (the total estimated population for the 2001 Census was 605,500).

Oxfordshire‟s population has aged overall, due to the older age groups experiencing greater growth than younger groups. The 65-and-over population has grown by 18% since 2001, while the number of people aged 85 and over increased by 30%.

The number of people in their 30s in the County has declined by 12%.

The number of children aged 4 and under has grown by 13%.

Oxfordshire’s population is ageing, with a significant number of older people predicted, particularly in the upper age groups.

According to the ONS 2010-based population projections, between 2010 and 2035 (25 years) the population aged 65+ in Oxfordshire is expected to grow from 102,000 to 175,000, an increase of 72.5%.

Over the same time period the population aged 85+ is expected to increase by 163%.

The ratio of people aged 16-64 years is expected to change so that by 2023 there will be one older person per three working age people.

Figure 10 Predicted change in ratio of older age (65+) to working age (16-64) population, Oxfordshire


47

Source: ONS 2010 based subnational population projections

Small area population forecasts show a contrast in the predicted change in rural and urban parts of the county, with some rural areas expected to see a significant decline in population.

Figure 11 Population change by ward in Oxfordshire, 2006 to 2016

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

0.45

0.50

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

20

14

20

15

20

16

20

17

20

18

20

19

20

20

20

21

20

22

20

23

20

24

20

25

20

26

20

27

20

28

20

29

20

30

20

31

20

32

20

33

20

34

20

35

1:4

1:3


48

Source: Oxfordshire County Council, July 2010. Small area population and household forecasts


49

4.2 Economic Activity, Employment and Occupation

Economic activity rates

Source: Annual Population Survey

According to the Annual Population Survey, 81% of Oxfordshire’s resident workforce, aged 16 to 64 years, were economically active in 2011. This dropped to a low of 78.6% in 2010 from the level it was prior to the recession when it reached 82.5%.

Full-time and part-time working

2008 2009 2010 2011

Employment 326,900 313,300 315,800 328,900

76.0

77.0

78.0

79.0

80.0

81.0

82.0

83.0

2008 2009 2010 2011

% Economic activity rate - aged 16-64

% Economic activityrate - aged 16-64


50

Source: Annual Population Survey

The overall number of people in employment increased in 2011 to replace jobs lost in the period 2008 to 2010.

The level of full time employment decreased against a rise in part-time employment for both women and men.

% employed full-time and part-time

2008 2011 Men Full-time 89.6 87.8 Part-time 10.4 12.2 Women Full-time 58.9 51.5 Part-time 41.1 48.5 Source: Annual Population Survey

Oxfordshire has an above average proportion of people in full time or part time work for both men and women aged 25 to 49 and aged 50+.

Figure 12 Percent of people in full or part time work (July 2010 to June 2011)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2008 2009 2010 2011

% Part-timeemployment

% Full timeemployment


51

Source: ONS, Annual Population Survey

92.1 86.4

90.4

77.1 73.2

77.2

Aged 25-49

OxfordshireEnglandSouth East

Males Females

51.6 44.7 47.3 45.7

33.2 36.2

Aged 50+

OxfordshireEnglandSouth East

Males Females


52

Occupation

The ONS Annual Population survey has shown changes in the occupational profile of Oxfordshire’s working population in recent years, with an increase in people employed as professionals and in the caring, leisure and other service occupations and a decline in those in admin, trade, operatives and elementary occupations.

53% of Oxfordshire’s working population are employed in managerial and professional occupations with a further 8% in skilled trades.

Table 7 Employment by occupation in Oxfordshire 2004/05 to 2010/11

Jul 2004-Jun 2005 Jul 2010-Jun 2011 change 04/05 to

10/11

1: managers, directors and senior officials 34,700 10.5 35,200 10.6 500 1%

2: professional occupations 68,300 20.7 95,000 28.7 26,700 39%

3: associate prof & tech occupations 45,200 13.7 46,200 13.9 1,000 2%

4: administrative and secretarial occupations 44,500 13.5 34,800 10.5 -9,700 -22%

5: skilled trades occupations 37,700 11.4 27,300 8.2 -10,400 -28%

6: caring, leisure and other service occupations 24,200 7.3 29,500 8.9 5,300 22%

7: sales and customer service occupations 23,800 7.2 23,500 7.1 -300 -1%

8: process, plant and machine operatives 16,800 5.1 12,100 3.7 -4,700 -28%

9: elementary occupations 34,100 10.3 26,600 8.0 -7,500 -22%

TOTAL in employment 329,300

330,200 Source: ONS Annual Population Survey


53

The proportion of the workforce employed in professional occupations in Oxfordshire is well above the regional and national average, at 29% of the workforce compared to 21% and 20%, respectfully.

Figure 13 Employment by occupation, July 2010 to June 2011

Source: ONS Annual Population Survey

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0

9: elementary occupations

8: process, plant and machine operatives

7: sales and customer service occupations

6: caring, leisure and other service occupations

5: skilled trades occupations

4: administrative and secretarial occupations

3: associate prof & tech occupations

2: professional occupations

1: managers, directors and senior officials

Oxfordshire

South East

England


54

26.0

27.8

35.8

35.7

33.8

32.6

30.6

30.3

27.8

26.0

25.2

21.9

21.5

21.4

21.3

21.1

20.9

19.5

17.8

17.8

16.6

England

South East

Surrey

Oxfordshire

Buckinghamshire

Hertfordshire

Gloucestershire

Cambridgeshire

South East

England

Hampshire

West Sussex

Leicestershire

Warwickshire

North Yorkshire

Kent

Worcestershire

Somerset

Northamptonshire

East Sussex

Essex

Males

27.1

26.5

35.9

32.6

32.1

32.1

30.8

29.9

25.7

24.8

24.3

23.1

22.9

22.5

22.2

21.3

20.8

19.2

18.7

England

South East

Oxfordshire

Surrey

Buckinghamshire

Gloucestershire

Hertfordshire

Cambridgeshire

North Yorkshire

Somerset

Warwickshire

Leicestershire

Worcestershire

Kent

Hampshire

Northamptonshire

Essex

East Sussex

West Sussex

Females

4.3 Education and skills

Qualifications

The proportion of the economically active population aged 16-64 with a degree or higher in Oxfordshire is above national and regional averages and the rate for females is above all other areas in Oxfordshire’s statistical neighbours group.

Figure 14 % of economically active aged 16-64 with degree or equivalent and above (Jan 10 – Dec 10)



55

7.8

6.4

12.8

11.0

10.8

9.6

8.6

8.4

8.2

7.5

7.0

6.7

6.3

5.4

5.3

5.3

5.2

4.4

4.1

England

South East

Northamptonshire

Leicestershire

Warwickshire

Oxfordshire

Essex

Worcestershire

Kent

East Sussex

North Yorkshire

Gloucestershire

West Sussex

Hertfordshire

Buckinghamshire

Surrey

Somerset

Hampshire

Cambridgeshire

Males

6.4

5.2

12.1

9.6

9.0

8.1

7.3

6.6

6.2

6.0

5.8

5.7

5.5

5.4

5.1

4.6

3.9

3.3

3.2

England

South East

Worcestershire

Northamptonshire

Leicestershire

North Yorkshire

Warwickshire

Kent

Somerset

West Sussex

Gloucestershire

Essex

Hertfordshire

East Sussex

Surrey

Oxfordshire

Hampshire

Cambridgeshire

Buckinghamshire

Females

Almost 10% of economically active males in Oxfordshire have no qualifications.

This is above the national and regional averages and up from 6.5% in 2009. The percentage of unqualified females is below these averages and below most of Oxfordshire’s statistical neighbours.

Figure 15 % of economically active aged 16-64 with no qualifications



56

55.3

56.9

57.0

57.4

58.2

58.6

59.2

59.4

60.1

60.7

60.8

62.9

63.2

63.4

66.9

69.7

59.6

58.4

Northamptonshire

Leicestershire

Somerset

Oxfordshire

Essex

West Sussex

Cambridgeshire

Kent

Worcestershire

Warwickshire

Hampshire

Gloucestershire

North Yorkshire

Surrey

Hertfordshire

Buckinghamshire

South East

England

% pupils with 5 A*-C GCSEs inc English and Maths

Oxfordshire’s school pupil attainment was below the average in the South East and across England on the percentage achieving 5 or more A*-C grades including English and Maths in 2010/11 – despite an increase in this percentage since the previous year.

The proportion of those attaining 2 or more A*-C in Science GCSEs however is above average.

Figure 16 Pupil attainment, 2010/11

Source: Department for Education

67.9

69.7

70.2

70.7

71.2

75.3

75.4

75.4

75.9

76.1

76.7

77.1

80

81.7

83.8

76.9

74.4

Northamptonshire

Somerset

Essex

Oxfordshire

West Sussex

Warwickshire

Leicester

Hampshire

Kent

Surrey

Buckinghamshire

Hertfordshire

Gloucestershire

Cambridgeshire

North Yorkshire

England

South East

% of pupils achieving the sciences component of the English Baccalaureate


57

Young people in education or training

Participation of 16 and 17 year olds in education and work-based learning increased sharply in Oxfordshire from 2005 to 2006, and was well above the national and regional averages until 2009 when an increase in participation levels across England raised the average to slightly above those in the county (89.4% in England compared with 89.2% in Oxfordshire).

Figure 17 Percent of 16 and 17 year olds in education and work based learning

Source: DfE: Participation in training and employment by 16-18 year olds in England


This was above the average for the South East (5.8%), and up from 5.9% in the previous year (data from Department for Education).

70%

72%

74%

76%

78%

80%

82%

84%

86%

88%

90%

92%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

% in

ed

uca

tio

n o

r w

ork

bas

ed

lear

nin

g England

South East

Oxfordshire


58

Skills gap and skills development The Oxfordshire Skills Needs Analysis13 identified a number of issues for Oxfordshire. In terms of priority sectors where skills development was required, the report identified four sectors most likely to present skills gaps among local people:

Despite Oxfordshire residents being very well qualified Oxfordshire employers reported a shortage in high level skills, most challenging to businesses in the science technology and engineering and manufacturing sector. In other sectors it would appear that the challenge is not to find the skills but to compete for them. The report found evidence to suggest that a lack of educational attainment and other ‘employability’ skills prevented a significant number of Oxfordshire’s residents, in particular for certain groups of young people (including teenage mothers, young people with learning difficulties and/ or disabilities, young people who have offended and young people leaving care), from entering the local job market. To address these issues, the report identified the need for training to meet needs in the science, technology, engineering and manufacturing sectors (STEM); targeted training for young people with more young people gaining STEM qualifications; small and medium sized businesses supported in providing apprenticeships; promotion of careers in care. Support for employers facing recruitment difficulty to ‘grow your own approach’. The national picture on skills Two national studies point to areas where skills deficiencies can be found. Taken together the broad messages appear to be:

- vacancies and skills gaps are concentrated in pockets of the economy, and where they are felt, they have a significant impact on the ability of businesses to function and stay competitive.

- Skills shortages are concentrated in skilled trades - Further education courses need to review the provision of courses to meet

demand where it exists.

13

The Oxfordshire Skills Needs Analysis was completed in November 2011 on behalf of Oxfordshire Skills Board by the Business and Skill Bureau at Oxfordshire County Council.


59

The UK Commission‟s first ever UK-wide employer skills survey (2011), based on 88,000 interviews, found:


60

At the time of survey, 15 per cent of establishments had a vacancy with a total

of 533,400 vacancies. 22% were ‘hard-to-fill’ vacancies which was below pre-

recession levels. Of these, 75% were due to skill shortages. Nearly all

business with a skills shortage (93%) found it had an impact on the operation

of the business.One in three vacancies were reported as hard-to-fill amongst

skilled trades like electricians, plumbers and chefs because of skill shortages

among applicants (double the average figure for the entire economy). By sector, establishments in the Manufacturing and Community, Social and

Personal Services sectors are most likely to report that their vacancies are hard-to-fill for skills related reasons (24 and 23 per cent, respectively, of vacancies are skill-shortage vacancies).

Recruitment difficulties are also experienced by those at the ‘lower end’ of the product market strategy scale. Rather than skills, here it is the nature of the job, in particular a lack of interest or shift work which is the main reason cited for the recruitment problems faced.

Size is a key determinant of the reporting of skill deficiency. Mid-sized establishments (employing between 25 and 199 staff) are the only ones to report an increase in the proportion of vacancies that are due to skill-shortage, raising questions about their ambitions for growth and ability to meet skills needs in the current labour market.

Employers invest about £49billon on training, half goes on trainee labour costs and £7millon on training management (only 45% of employers provided management training). Linked to this, most of the money employers spend on training goes outside the public system – to private training providers, not schools, colleges and universities.

41% of employers surveyed did not train their staff; this links to another finding of the report that found 4.5 million staff are underused in their current role;

Around a third of businesses (30%) had recruited someone straight from

education in the last 2-3 years. The majority of these were satisfied with the

work-readiness of education leavers, with this satisfaction rising with the age

of the education leaver

A report by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion,14 which examined the supply of skill achieved from further education courses and jobs in demand found a mismatch between courses currently being provided and jobs and vacancies. At a national level, it found significantly fewer jobs / vacancies per skills achievement in the creative industries; hair & beauty; and hospitality, leisure, travel & tourism. This suggests that these sectors have an over-supply of training. There are significantly more jobs / vacancies per skills achievement in marketing & sales; supporting teaching & learning in schools; security industries; and fashion & textiles. This suggests that these sectors have an under-supply of training.

The reasons could include:

14

Hidden Talents, Skills mismatch analysis, Laura Gardiner and Tony Wilson, June 2012


61

A failure by colleges and learners to identify occupations with relatively high demand but low supply

Ineffective routeways from sector-specific Level 2/3 training to sector-specific degree-level training for those occupations that mostly recruit graduates

A reliance in some sectors on unaccredited training, in-house training or previous experience

For those sectors with the fewest jobs or vacancies per skills achievement, too much demand from learners for these skills and/or supply from the FE sector.


62

507.6

554.4

644.8

603.2

594.2

563.3

554.6

553.6

550.3

546.2

517.5

511.7

500

488.7

487.3

486.3

480.3

464.4

England

South East

Surrey

Buckinghamshire

Hertfordshire

Essex

Oxfordshire

Hampshire

Cambridgeshire

Kent

Warwickshire

West Sussex

Leicestershire

Northamptonshire

Worcestershire

Gloucestershire

North Yorkshire

Somerset

Resident

4.4 Income Residents in Oxfordshire earn an average of £554.6 per week – similar to the average across the South East region and well above the national average. Oxfordshire ranks fifth highest in its group of statistical neighbours. People working in Oxfordshire earn above the regional and national average, and the weekly gross earnings are second highest of the statistical neighbour group.

Figure 18 Full time weekly gross earnings (2011)

Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

507.2

528.1

575.4

539.1

536.9

527.6

526.6

523.2

498.7

490.6

489.2

489.1

471.9

470.4

460.0

460.0

449.2

439.3

England

South East

Surrey

Oxfordshire

Buckinghamshire

Cambridgeshire

Hertfordshire

Hampshire

Essex

Warwickshire

Kent

West Sussex

Leicestershire

Gloucestershire

North Yorkshire

Northamptonshire

Somerset

Worcestershire

Workplace


63

Oxfordshire’s resident full time workers earn a higher weekly gross amount than workers in the county; however this differential is below that of most other statistical neighbours.

Figure 19 Difference between resident and workplace gross weekly earnings

Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

0.4

26.3

69.4

67.6

66.3

64.6

57

48

30.4

28.7

28.1

26.9

22.7

22.6

20.3

15.9

15.5

15.2

England

South East

Surrey

Hertfordshire

Buckinghamshire

Essex

Kent

Worcestershire

Hampshire

Northamptonshire

Leicestershire

Warwickshire

Cambridgeshire

West Sussex

North Yorkshire

Gloucestershire

Oxfordshire

Somerset

Resident minus workplace earnings Residents earning more than workers

implies out-commuting to

workplace with higher-paid jobs

(e.g. London)


64

4.5 Deprivation

Deprivation refers to a lack in any of the key quality of life factors, including income but also health and disability, skills and education, access to services and housing, employment, crime and the living environment

Deprivation is measured using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) - a nationally comparative measure. According to the 2010 IMD there are 18 local areas in Oxfordshire which rank amongst the 20% most deprived nationally.

Most of these areas rank within the 10% most deprived on the Education & Skills domain; eight areas falling in the 5% most deprived

A number of areas also rank in the 10% most deprived in the housing and services domain. These areas are all in Oxford and largely reflect barriers to housing – primarily the cost of homes in comparison to income (see section 0).

Table 8 Oxfordshire’s most deprived areas (IMD 2010)

LA NAME Lower Super Output Area

name

IMD 2010 (as

rank of UK

areas)

Inco

me

Emp

loym

ent

Hea

lth

an

d D

isab

ility

Edu

cati

on

, Ski

lls a

nd

Tr

ain

ing

Ho

usi

ng

and

Ser

vice

s

Cri

me

Envi

ron

men

t

Oxford Northfield Brook 68 10% 8% 22% 14% 3% 20% 8% 49%

Oxford Rose Hill and Iffley 77 10% 15% 19% 8% 6% 6% 14% 53%

Oxford Blackbird Leys 20 12% 10% 27% 16% 8% 15% 4% 35%


Oxford Barton and Sandhills 14 12% 11% 26% 21% 2% 8% 37% 40%

Oxford Barton and Sandhills 13 13% 16% 19% 12% 12% 10% 9% 42%

Cherwell Banbury Ruscote 49 13% 16% 18% 14% 1% 60% 54% 14%

Cherwell Banbury Grimsbury and Castle 35

14% 24% 12% 11% 32% 49% 3% 11%



Oxford Littlemore 52 16% 17% 28% 17% 7% 15% 13% 42%


Oxford Carfax 22 16% 43% 31% 2% 47% 5% 6% 22%


Cherwell Banbury Grimsbury and Castle 36

17% 15% 25% 7% 9% 58% 26% 35%

Oxford Rose Hill and Iffley 76 17% 16% 36% 32% 6% 7% 16% 43%


Vale of White Horse

Abingdon Caldecott 92 19% 14% 24% 37% 1% 62% 60% 67%


65

Source: Index of Multiple Deprivation, 2010. Department for Communities & Local Government


66

5 Infrastructure

Key Findings:

40% of Oxfordshire is not served by superfast broadband. Rural areas in particular are disadvantaged.

The OxOnline project aims to get 90% of non-commercial parts of Oxfordshire connected to at least superfast broadband by 2015. The main BT and Virgin operators will have 70% of the county upgraded to superfast by 2014. The OxOnline project is targeting those areas the two main operators do not cover.

Average traffic flow in Oxfordshire increased slightly from 2010 to 2011, returning to 2009 levels of 11.3 million miles.

The cost of the cheapest market housing in Oxfordshire is around nine times higher than the lowest quartile earnings. This ratio fell slightly from 2010 to 2011, in line with national trends, but remains above the national and regional averages.

Between 2006 and 2011 a total of 13,800 houses were built in Oxfordshire, of which 3,114 were new affordable houses.

The rate of housebuilding has fallen off year on year since 2006 so that in 2010/11 a total of 1,600 houses were built; the lowest annual level of house building in the county since 1971 (from when records are available).

Local Plans provide for 39,700 houses to be delivered between 2011 and 2026. At April 2011 there was an implied county average of 4.2 years supply of houses available and ready for development.

Between 2006 to 2011, a net total of 333,800 square metres of new employment floorspace was built in Oxfordshire providing new space for offices, industry and warehousing. 66% of all development completed in the county provided new premises for B1 uses, of which 37% was concentrated in Oxford.

There was a loss of B2 uses across the county with 28% built to provide for warehousing and distribution.

At April 2011, there was an estimated 380,000 square metres of floorspace (net) with planning permission for industrial and commercial development across Oxfordshire.

There was in addition a total of 280 hectares of land allocated or proposed for allocation in local plans for commercial and industrial development. This includes:

41 Ha at Bicester which includes 18Ha at the Bicester Eco-town 29 Ha at Banbury 38 Ha at Oxford (9 Ha at the Oxford Science Park, 9 Ha at the Oxford Business Park at 20 Ha at the Northern Gateway). 92 Ha at the Science Vale Enterprise Zone which covers Milton Park and Harwell Oxford. 14 Ha at Witney 11 Ha at Carterton.


67

Transport and communications infrastructure are important location factors and improvements in both are important to both support businesses and thereby secure economic growth.

5.1 Broadband availability and speed First generation broadband - where standard phone lines use copper wires - allow for speeds up to 8mbps. For such technology actual speeds received depends on how far the phone line has to stretch to the telephone exchange, so that the shorter the distance the better the speed. Urban areas fair better because there are more exchanges and more providers. Current internet technology provide for speeds up to 24Mb (megabytes). Newer fibre optic cabling provide for ‘superfast speeds’ up to 100mb. Most rural parts of Oxfordshire still do not have an acceptable level of standard broadband or mobile phone networks due to the lack of digital infrastructure. Table 4-1 Average speed of first generation broadband in Oxfordshire districts Local authority Average speed (kbps)

Local Authority Average Speed (kbps) Ranking*

Oxford City 5,096 93

South Oxfordshire 4,994 120

Vale of White Horse District Council

4,546 271

Cherwell 4,636 235

West Oxfordshire 4,809 178 *Out of 376 local authorities. Kbps- kilobytes per second) Source: Future Broadband Strategy for Oxfordshire, 2010. A. Wooster and H. Pickering.

Broadband speeds between Oxfordshire’s urban and rural areas vary significantly, and surveys undertaken by Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) and by communities via their parish plans, show that speeds can be very low. 48% of those who responded to the OCC Residents Broadband Survey reported speeds of less than 2Mbps.

Whilst some areas in Oxfordshire are already benefitting from next generation superfast broadband (technology that uses advanced copper wires or fibre optic cabling), other parts of the county, particularly in rural areas,

Approximately 40% of Oxfordshire is not currently served by superfast broadband. However, new improvements being implemented by BT will bring this down to 30%.

The current commercial roll-out plans of broadband infrastructure providers suggest that approximately one third of premises in Oxfordshire would not have an option to


68

access NGA broadband by 2015. In large part these will be rural and hard to reach areas. The OxOnline project is a broadband initiative, developed as part of the national programme, Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), set up in Oxfordshire to deliver NGA broadband (24Mbps) to 90% of premises in Oxfordshire by 2015 with the remaining 10% of the population having access to a basic level of service (defined as having access to a speed of 2Mbps). This will be an overall investment of £14million to deliver this project.

5.2 Transport

Commuting

Oxfordshire’s labour market is relatively self-contained. In 2001, xxx people lived and worked within the county. However, between 1991 and 2001 an increased proportion of jobs in Oxfordshire were filled by people living outside the county.

Almost 16% of the 315,000 jobs in Oxfordshire in 2001 were filled by people travelling into the county to work, up from 12% in 1991.

In 1991 more Oxfordshire residents travelled to work outside Oxfordshire than commuted in (the county was a net exporter of workers). By 2001 this had reversed and slightly more people were travelling into Oxfordshire to work than travelling to jobs outside the county.

The overall number of people living outside Oxfordshire and travelling to work in the county increased by 66% between 1991 and 2001.

Table 9 Change in the number of people travelling into and out of Oxfordshire to work, 1991 to 2001

1991 2001 1991 to 2001 change

Residents travelling to work outside Oxfordshire

36,611 48,700 +12,089 +33%

People travelling into Oxfordshire for jobs

30,163 50,072 19,909 +66%

Source: Census surveys, ONS


69

Congestion

Average traffic flow in Oxfordshire increased slightly from 2010 to 2011, returning to 2009 levels of 11.3 million miles.

The rate of traffic flow on Oxfordshire's roads over the last 10 years (2000 to 2010) increased by 2%. Traffic on Oxfordshire's non-strategic roads, i.e. those roads for which we are responsible, was 3% over ten years.

Over the past five years (2005 to 2010) there has been a reduction in average traffic flow of more than 3% for all roads in the county ( -3.18%). For the non-strategic roads there has been a decrease of -2.1%.

Figure 20 Traffic growth in Oxfordshire, 2000 to 2010

Source: Oxfordshire County Council Transport Monitoring

Congestion remains a concern for businesses in Oxfordshire.

The average journey time per mile during the term time morning peak in Oxfordshire during 2009/10 was 4 minutes 20 seconds. The average journey time per mile has increased by 6 seconds (average vehicle speed fell by 0.4mph), when compared to the previous year (2008/09 academic year). This means that there was a minimal increase in congestion during this period.

94%

96%

98%

100%

102%

104%

106%

108%

110%

112%

114%

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

M40

Trunk (Core)

Trunk (Non Core)

A Class

B Class

Unclassified


70


71

Infrastructure delivery since 2007 The priority of the Oxfordshire Local Transport Plan and the Oxfordshire Local Investment Plan has been to improve the strategic road network, rail networks and promote sustainable travel. Between 2006 and 2011 Oxfordshire County Council secured £13 million to improve transport infrastructure and services so that Oxford continues to be an attractive location for business investment. This has included schemes to:

create a friendlier shopping experience in the city centre and a high quality environment for visitors;

improve the environment of the suburban centres to make these more attractive locations for business and retail;

reduce congestion on the Oxford Ring Road; and

continued improvements in bus services and facilities and improvements to the city’s cycling network.

Among the more significant improvements delivered in this time were Queen Street, New Inn Hall Street, London Road Corridor, A40 Green Road Roundabout, Summertown, A423 Heyford Hill Roundabout and Thornhill Park & Ride. Outside Oxford, £33 million were invested to reduce congestion, improve town centre environments and air quality, and access new development areas - including Abingdon and Henley town centres and the South West Bicester Perimeter Road.

Future Major Schemes to 2020 In the Oxfordshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2030 there will be continued investment to support development, particularly to in the Oxfordshire Growth Arc comprising the three priority areas of economic growth, enterprise and housing. In the short term major investment proposals will include Thornhill Park and Ride extension and London Road bus priority measures, and improvements to Frideswide Square in Oxford, the Banbury North-South corridor, Didcot Parkway Station forecourt, Oxford and Water Eaton Stations, and Kennington and Heyford Hill Roundabouts. The Oxfordshire Local Investment Plan, prepared by a partnership of the county and district councils, identifies a number of strategic transport schemes which it considered necessary to support development in the county in the short term including:

Access to Oxford

Chiltern Railways Evergreen 3 Project

East-West Rail (western section)

Banbury priority north-south vehicular corridor

Bicester park and ride

M40 Junction 9 improvements


72

South west Bicester perimeter road

Transport improvements in and around Bicester

Didcot Northern Perimeter Road Phase 3

Cow Lane Underpass, Didcot

Didcot Parkway station forecourt

Didcot Parkway station (Foxhall car park and

pedestrian improvements)

Accessing Science Vale UK transport package

Thornhill park and ride, Oxford

Grove & Wantage railway station

Cogges Link Road and Witney town centre

enhancement, Witney

Cotswold line railway re-doubling

A40 Downs Road junction, Witney Many of these schemes will be delivered to support developments. Some schemes like East West Rail have secured funding


73

5.3 Housing

House prices and affordability

The cost of the cheapest market housing in Oxfordshire is around nine times higher than the lowest quartile earnings. This ratio fell slightly from 2010 to 2011, in line with national trends, but remains above the national and regional averages.

Figure 21 Lower quartile house price to income ratio

Source: Communities and Local Government live tables on housing

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

8.00

10.00

12.00

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Low

er

qu

arti

le h

ou

se p

rice

to

ear

nin

gs r

atio

Oxfordshire

South East

England


74

Figure 22 Lower quartile house price to lower quartile earnings ratio (2011)

Source: Communities and Local Government live tables on housing

6.38

6.77

6.79

7.23

7.28

7.51

7.87

7.93

7.96

7.98

8.45

8.52

8.57

8.88

9.10

9.50

9.60

10.27

8.18

6.53

Northamptonshire

Leicestershire

Warwickshire

Cambridgeshire

Gloucestershire

North Yorkshire

Somerset

Worcestershire

Essex

Kent

East Sussex

Hampshire

Herefordshire, County of UA

Oxfordshire

West Sussex

Hertfordshire

Buckinghamshire

Surrey

SOUTH EAST

ENGLAND


75

House building

Between 2006 and 2011 a total of 13,800 houses were built in Oxfordshire.

However, the rate of housebuilding has fallen off year on year since that time so that in 2010/11 a total of 1,600 houses were built; the lowest annual level of house building in the county since 1971 (from when records are available). The economic situation has had a significant impact on house building, with the fifth consecutive fall in building rates in Oxfordshire since 2005/06. Nationally, house building also hit an all time low with 121,200 homes built in England during 2010/1115.

The slow down in house building reflects a drop in private sector market housing. The number of affordable homes built has remained stable over the last few years, again, reflecting the national trend, where homes completed by social landlords (or local authorities) increased overall in 2010-11 compared to a drop in private sector built homes. However, this may not continue to be the case. With the cut in public subsidy grant to build new homes, there is some evidence that social landlords are looking increasingly to alternative means to raise capital to build or acquire new affordable homes, including through the acquisition of existing stock.

Affordable Housing Between 2006 and 2011, 3,114 new affordable homes were developed in the county. Although this includes some gross completion figures it suggests about a quarter of all new houses built in the county over that time were affordable.

Known acquisitions by housing associations provided a further 200 houses for affordable housing between 2006 and 2011.

Figure 1: Number of houses built in Oxfordshire 2001-2011

Source: City and District Councils

15 DCLG Housing Statistics 2009/10

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

2001

/02

2002

/03

2003

/04

2004

/05

2005

/06

2006

/07

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/08

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/09

2009

/10

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/11

Year

Nu

mb

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uilt

Total Houses Built Market housing Affordable housing


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Housing supply Local Plans currently provide for 39,700 houses to be delivered between 2011 and 2026.

Table 2: Housing development

Cherwell Oxford South Vale West Total

2006-11 Actual

4,826 2,472 1,335 2,082 3,061 13,776

2011-16 3,500 3,022 3,390 2,287 1,674 13,874

2016-26 5,074 2,506 6,769 8,925 2,565 25,839

Total 13,400 8,000 11,494 13,294 7,300 53,489 *South figures are to 2026/27 *Vale figures to 2028/29

Government policy16 requires local authorities to maintain a 5 year supply of houses that are ‘deliverable’ (are available and can be built within the 5 years), with a buffer of five per cent17. The location of large strategic sites (400+ dwellings) is shown in Figure 25. Table 10 Five Year Housing Land supply at April 2011

Oxford Cherwell Didcot Rest of South Oxon

Vale of White Horse

West Oxon

5 year requirement

1,840 3,620 1,907 1,265 3,115 1,415

5 year deliverable sites

1,986 2,023 1,970 1,665 1,766 1,525

Number of years supply

5.3 2.8 5.2 6.6 2.8 5.4

The 5 year requirement varies between the Oxfordshire local authorities with an implied county supply of 4.2 years.

The lower supply in both Cherwell and the Vale of White House are due to either the delay experienced at major sites and/or difficult market conditions. Both Councils are working on measures to speed up delivery including work on pushing forward their Core Strategies that will formally identify sites.

16

National Planning Policy Framework, March 2012, Para. 47 17

The buffer should be 20 per cent where there is a ‘record of persistent under delivery’.


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Figure 23 Strategic housing sites in Oxfordshire

5.4 Employment land18

Land developed for commercial and industrial activity Between 2006 to 2011, a net total of 333,800 square metres of new employment floorspace was built in Oxfordshire providing new space for offices, industry and warehousing. Total floorspace completed for commercial and industrial development, 2006 to 2011 (Square metres)

06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 Total % of total

Oxford 40,900 29,500 15,400 4,900 2,200 92,900 28

Cherwell 12,500 4,000 20,000 26,700 -70 63,130 19

South 7,200 14,500 19,000 44,700 4,800 90,200 27

Vale -12,200 26,700 10,300 6,400 -200 31,000 9

West 9,100 200 7,500 470 39,000 56,270 17

County 57,500 74,900 72,200 83,170 45,730 333,500 100 Source: SMART database and district councils

333,500 square metres of commercial and industrial floorspace was built in the county between 2006 to 2011.

There was a year on year increase in development activity between 2006 to 2011despite the recession of 2008/09 but there was a sharp fall witnessed in the period 2010/11.

The level of floorspace completed in 2009/10 includes a major distribution centre for Asda on the edge of Didcot for 41,256 square metres, which accounts for 50% of the total floorspace completed in that year.

18 Data from SMART (district council database) and Annual Monitoring Reports. The main commercial and industrial

developments are generally classified as B1 (which includes offices, research and development and light industry), B2 which is general industry and B8 which includes storage and distribution.

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Commercial and industrial floorspace built by use class, 2006 to 2011

B1

(Offices)

B2 (General Industry)

B8 (Distribution

and warehousing) B Mixed Total

Oxford 82,844 4,187 6,006 0 93,037

Cherwell 36,668 -16,880 23,017 20,351 63,156

South 41,623 -4,503 42,869 10,410 90,399

Vale 20,691 -811 5,513 5,593 30,986

West 39,146 -1,444 16,289 2,254 56,245

County 220,972 -19,451 93,694 38,608 333,823

% County total by Use Class 66 -6 28 12 100

66% of all development completed in the county provided new premises for B1 uses, of which 37% was concentrated in Oxford.

There was a loss of B2 uses across the county with 28% built to provide for warehousing and distribution.

Land available for employment generating development at April 2011

At 1st April 2011 there was an estimated 380,000 square metres of floorspace (net) with planning permission for industrial and commercial development across Oxfordshire (this includes permissions that are under construction at that time).

There was in addition a total of 203 hectares of land allocated or proposed for allocation in local plans for commercial and industrial development.

The amount of floorspace with planning permission for commercial and industrial development at April 2011

B1 Offices

B2 General Industry

B8 Storage &

Distribution B mixed Total % of total

Oxford 38,200 848 390 0 39,438 10

Cherwell 85,522 6,698 29,871 123,303 245,394 65

South 5,095 2,358 22,709 -690 29,472 8

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Vale -630 1,382 13,568 8,621 22,941 6

West 14,172 2,231 5,455 20,724 42,582 11

Oxfordshire 142,359 13,517 71,993 151,958 379,827 100

% use class across county 37 4 19 40 100 Note: Figure for Oxford at April 2010

The figure for Cherwell includes planning permission for 115,000M2 of floorpsace at Upper Heyford.

40% of floorpsace permitted is for mixed B use and 37% for B1 use. In Oxford City, floorspace permitted is predominately for B1 use.

In addition to land with planning permission for development there is also land allocated in local plans for development (some of which is proposed in Core Strategies to 2026) . At April 2001 this amounted to 280 hectares across the county.

District

Land allocated for employment (hectares)

Cherwell 77

Oxford 38

South Oxfordshire 28

Vale of White Horse 106

West Oxfordshire 31

Oxfordshire 280

Notes: This includes land allocated, without planning permission, in Local Plans and proposed in Core Strategies.

This includes: 41 Ha at Bicester which includes 18Ha at the Bicester Eco-town 29 Ha at Banbury At Oxford it includes 9 Ha at the Oxford Science Park, 9 Ha at the Oxford Business Park at 20 Ha at the Northern Gateway. 92 Ha at the Science Vale Enterprise Zone which covers Milton Park and Harwell Oxford. 14 Ha at Witney and 11 Ha at Carterton.

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Commercial office floorspace per square metre per person, 2008

LEP Area Commercial office floorspace per person

Estimated rateable value £ per square metre

London 3.25 203

Thames Valley Berksghire

3.05 119

Enterprsie M3 2.03 114

Oxfordshire 1.83 116 Hertfordshire 1.77 127 Buckinghamshire Thames Valley

1.68 115

Source: The LEP Network

According to a recent report, Oxfordshire (outside London), at 1.83 square metres, has one of the highest presence of commercial floorspace per person in the country19 but it is also has high rates payable.

Enterprise Zone

The Science Vale UK Enterprise Zone is one of 24 currently in the country introduced by the Coalition Government to boost economic growth and create jobs. The Zone comprises the two sites of Milton Park and Harwell Oxford - two of the largest science and research parks in southern Oxfordshire – extending over 92 hectares. Enterprise Zones benefit from simplified planning controls, discounts on business rates, and new investment in infrastructure. The Science Vale EZ will see:

a business rate discount worth up to £275,000 per eligible business over a five year period;

all business rates with the Enterprise Zone being reinvested in the area to support further growth;

a radically simplified planning regime to enable development; and Superfast broadband.

It is estimated the Enterprise Zone could create up 8,400 new jobs and 200,000sq m of new commercial development by 2015.

Science parks Oxfordshire is well endowed with science parks and incubator space to develop and commercialise cutting edge technologies. There are more than 100 science parks 300

19

Creating Successful Local Economies 2012, The LEP Network,

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business incubators in the UK20 . Of the 19 science parks in the south east - recognised as such by the UK Trade and Investment and the Science Park Association - 7 are located in Oxfordshire:

Science Parks in Oxfordshire

Begbrooke Science Park

Culham Science Centre

Harwell Oxford

Harwell Innovation Centre

Milton Park Innovation Centre

Oxford Science Park

Oxford Innovation Centre

20 Science parks and business incubators in the UK, UKTI factsheet, May 2011.

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6 Environment and climate change

Key Features:

Oxfordshire is the least densely populated county in the south east region. Oxfordshire has a high quality environment with four National Nature Reserves, over

100 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and about a quarter of its landscape designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

In 2010, Oxfordshire’s carbon footprint was equivalent to 7.4 tonnes per person, a drop of 12% of 8.4 tonnes in 2005. However, this remains above regional and national averages.

Around 40% of Oxfordshire’s CO2 emissions come from industrial and commercial sources, almost one third (31%) from domestic sources, and 29% from road transport.

Water courses form a significant feature of Oxfordshire’s landscape (rivers and canal systems). 88% of rivers through Oxfordshire were classified as very good/good in 2009 compared to 56% in 1990. About 24,000 existing properties are deemed at risk of flooding in Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire is the least densely populated county in the South East region and at the time of the Census 2001 survey around half of its parishes had fewer than 500 residents. South and West Oxfordshire are classified amongst the most rural districts in England.

Oxfordshire’s natural environment is diverse, and includes:

A rich geological landscape including rocks from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods

Extensive agricultural land (around three quarters of the land area)

Parts of three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (24% of land area)

A wide range of natural habitats, including many of the UK’s Biodiversity Action Plan ‘Priority Habitat’ types.

For businesses the local environment provides:

Employment in land based businesses

Employment and income from tourism – an estimated 29,000 jobs and £1.7bn income for businesses in Oxfordshire

An attractive place to do business – the 2010 Oxfordshire Employer Skills survey found 92% of business satisfied with Oxfordshire as a place to do business, up from 88% in 2008.

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6.1 Pressures on Oxfordshire’s environment

Population, households and car ownership

The growth of the population in Oxfordshire has been significant and accompanied by changes in living arrangements and an increasing number of cars per household.

The population of Oxfordshire (within the current boundary) has more than doubled since the 1940s and as of mid-2008 was estimated at 640 thousand residents.

In 1801 the average household in Oxfordshire was occupied by 5 people compared with 2.5 in 200121. This trend is continuing, and forecast to decline to 2.3 people per household by 2031.

As of 2001, the average number of cars per household was 1.32, up from 0.92 in 1981. In South Oxfordshire district the ratio was 1.5 cars per household.

Household and population forecasts for Oxfordshire predict that by 2031 there will be 66 thousand more households (compared with 2001) and the county will have 79 thousand more residents.

Table 11 Population, households and cars in Oxfordshire, 1981 to 2031

Population

(thousands)

Households

(thousands)

Population

per household

Cars

(census count)

Cars per

household

1981 542 190 2.85 175 0.92

1991 576 220 2.62 246 1.12

2001 607 242 2.51 320 1.32

2011 645 260 2.48

2021 665 284 2.42

2031 686 308 2.34 407* 1.32*

2001 to 2031 79 66 87

Source: ONS mid year estimates, ONS 2008-based population projections, Communities and Local Government household projections, ONS Census surveys

*estimate based on 2001 census ratio of cars per household and CLG projected number of

households by 2031.

21

200 years of the Census in Oxfordshire, ONS

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The household projections imply an additional 87 thousand cars in Oxfordshire by 2031, an increase of 29%.

This assumes the ratio of cars per household remains the same as in 2001. It may be however that cars per household increases over this period as a consequence of an increase in the number of female driving licence holders.

6.2 Changing climate and weather events

Data from the MetOffice shows an increase in the Central England temperature of about 1.10C during the 20th Century, and an increase in summer rainfall (England and Wales) over the past 14 years. Figure 24 Central England temperature

Source: MetOffice, Central England Temperature records.

Notes published with the temperature data:

Central England Temperature is representative of a roughly triangular area of the United Kingdom. It is enclosed by Bristol, Lancashire and London.

The 2006 extended summer period was been the warmest on the long standing Central England Temperature (CET) record dates back to 1659 and May to September 2006 has been warmer than any equivalent period since then. The 2006 period included the warmest month ever, July, and a record temperature for September.

During the 20th century, the annual mean central England temperature warmed by about 1.1° C. The 1990s were exceptionally warm in central England by historical standards, about 0.6° C warmer than the 1961-1990 average.

Difference between average annual Central England temperature and 1961-1990 Central England average (both after smoothing)

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Figure 25 Rainfall

Notes published with the rainfall data:

Summer precipitation (July - August) has increased dramatically in the past decade. However, there have

been more subtle changes in the winter (December - March) which have seen less prominent decreases in rainfall since the late 1970s.

In the last 14 years, summer rainfall has increased year-on-year. Since 2006, summer precipitation has

been at least 22 per cent higher than the baseline. In the summer of 2009, rainfall was higher than it has been since 1892 (32.1 per cent higher than the 1961-1990 average).

Since 2004 winters have seen roughly 5 per cent less rain compared with the aforementioned baseline.

*please note, these comparisons use a smoothed data values for each year.

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A changing climate may result in additional extreme weather events such as:

1. High intensity rainfall leading to flooding

Oxfordshire has 12% of its land area within the floodplain and the Environment Agency’s National Flood Risk Assessment, 2009, indicated that there are around 24,000 properties at risk from flooding (6% of all properties in the county). Around 9.000 of these have a significant chance of flooding (more than 1 in 75 chance of flooding in any one year).

2. Hot summers causing water shortages and deteriorating air quality

Data from Harwell shows a significant increase in ground level ozone in the hot summer of 2003.

According to the Royal Society 2008 report on ground level ozone, children, the elderly and asthmatics are particularly vulnerable to ozone which affects the lungs, nose and eyes. In 2003, an estimated 1,600 UK deaths were attributed to ozone.

The Climate Impact Profile for Oxfordshire published in October 2006 estimated that the cost of over 260 weather events during the previous 10 years (including floods and the effects of high temperatures) was £16.4million. Since then, Oxfordshire was affected by at least 93 recorded weather related incidents that arose from 19 separate weather events during 2007 to 2009. These included the floods of July 2007 and the heaviest snowfall for eighteen years in February 2009. The estimated cost to the council of these incidents was £4.5 million.

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6.3 Use of resources

Carbon dioxide emissions from Oxfordshire rose slightly from 2009 to 2010, from 7.2 to 7.4 tonnes per capita22. This is the first increase in emissions since 2005, and is largely due to increased gas consumption for space heating – 2010 was the coldest winter since 1987. This increase follows the significant decrease observed during 2008 to 2009 (seen in Oxfordshire and almost all local authorities): at least some of the reduction was likely to be due to the economic downturn.

Emissions from Oxfordshire in 2010 remain above the national and regional averages (6.6 and 6.1 tonnes per person, respectively).

Figure 1 Carbon dioxide emissions in Oxfordshire, 2005 to 2010

Source: Department for Energy and Climate Change

Just over 40% of Oxfordshire’s CO2 emissions come from industrial and commercial sources, almost one third (32%) from domestic sources, and 27% from road transport. This share of emissions varies by district (Figure 27). Emissions from industry and commerce and from domestic sources increased from 2009 to 2010 whilst emissions from road transport fell.

22

Department for Energy and Climate Change, 2010 UK carbon dioxide emissions for Local Authority and Government Office region level (local authority influenced emissions only so excludes motorway transport emissions).

-

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

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7.0

8.0

9.0

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

tonnes C

O2 p

er

pers

on

Oxfordshire South East National

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Figure 2 Carbon dioxide emissions by district and sector, 2010

Source: Department for Energy and Climate Change, Sept 2011

-

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Cherwell Oxford SouthOxfordshire

Vale of WhiteHorse

West Oxfordshire

ton

ne

s C

O2

pe

r p

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Industry Domestic Road transport

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6.4 Sustainability

Oxfordshire’s ecological footprint area (the area needed to support demand for natural resources including water, energy and clean air) is approximately 14 times its land area.

Figure 26 Land area vs ecological footprint

Oxfordshire’s more rural districts have a relatively poor carbon footprint compared with the South East region. There are a number of issues with measuring and comparing carbon footprints, including, for example, embedded carbon in goods and services and the influence of rurality – which are noted for further investigation.

Table 12 Carbon footprint – Oxfordshire districts, 2009

Carbon footprint (tonnes CO2 per capita)

Cherwell 12.75

Oxford 11.4

South Oxfordshire 13.93

Vale of White Horse 13.2

West Oxfordshire 13.36

South East 12.76

UK 12.08

Source: Stockholm Institute, Resource and Environmental Accounting

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